As he confirmed his own identity, Han Xuhan threw away the magical scroll he had been carrying until now. This scroll was supposed to function as a hit list for him, but Xuhan would not be surprised if the scroll had other functions that he didn't know of. The fact that Fang Xie had handed it to him was enough of a red flag in itself.
"Come in," Fang Xie said in a voice barely suppressing fury. "Come in and explain yourself, boy, and you better hope it's an explanation I like. If you thought you could get away after interfering with my work by relying on Xuan Zi, you're in for some disappointment!"
While he kept spewing his rage through such threats, Han Xuhan gingerly made his way into the room while carrying a small metal in front of his chest, which he had found inside the cabin. Judging by the vague imprints of fists on it, Han Xuhan guessed that Leng Qing tested out the results of his body cultivation on it.
To leave fist shapes on inch-thick plates...Han Xuhan knew he was no match for such strength. It was a good thing that he had put the boy out of the equation before making his move.
"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" Fang Xie's sudden roar startled him.
"Yes! Yes, of course!" He immediately answered while positioning himself close to the only window of the bedroom. Right now, the distance between him and Fang Xie was about twelve feet. His slowly growing ability to see through the Consciousness Matrix was just enough here to give him a clear vision of his opponent from this distance.
"I have yet to hear the explanation on which your life depends, boy!" Fang Xie growled. Han Xuhan observed the man's Celestial Body In the Consciousness Matrix with much curiosity.
Just as he had suspected, Fang Xie's body was a mass of swirling, tangled colors. In the black-and-grey world of Ghostsight, his silhouette was incredibly prominent and detailed. Han Xuhan looked at his own body which could be considered almost similar to Fang Xie's in the Consciousness Matrix and a trace of relief washed over him.
"The explanation you've been waiting to hear goes somewhat along these lines," he began to speak in a low voice.
"I, Han Xuhan, am destined to be a cripple. In the brutal world of cultivation, that is essentially a seed of a painful future. Nobody in my shoes would be willing to submit to such a fate."
"...What the fuck does that have to do with anything?" Fang Xie asked after a second of dumbfounded silence.
"Then you made your appearance in my story, Inspector Xie. You threatened to mutilate me to death if I did not submit to your orders and assassinated some youngsters from foreign sects."
"So your kind, lawful heart gave you the idea to rebel and ambush me here?" Fang Xie said in disbelief. "Quit the drama, boy. We both know you don't give a fuck about anybody other than yourself and your own interests!"
Han Xuhan shrugged. "Indeed, I do not. But I do mind it when I'm being coerced into doing something that I would not normally do. If you had just asked me to beat these kids like Leng Qing and Qing Ya up, I would have done it without even thinking about it. It is natural to submit to those who hold the highest power in the hierarchy, in this case which is you. I would not find it to be a distasteful task that I'm being forced to do. I'd treat it as a challenge. However, two factors made me deviate from that line of thinking. Firstly, this is literally assassination, what you're making me do. I have nothing against these kids. Why would I be willing to make them your puppets for reasons you've never even bothered to explain? It could very well spell their deaths, now in mind, later in flesh!"
Fang Xie chewed on his own tongue for a while as Xuhan stopped to breathe. It seemed like he wanted to explain something, but he decided against it in the end and chose to ask, "And your second reason is?"
Han Xuhan laughed derisively.
"That's an even more convincing one, in all honesty. I merely cast my sight into the distant future where I shall have long become a crippled mortal. How difficult would it be to make Xuan Zi lift the protective shield he has been holding over me as a Sect Master? Since you have enough power to coerce me to do terrible tasks right in front of him, I assume you also have enough power to coerce HIM into overlooking the safety of a long-forgotten outcast of his sect, no longer an official disciple. So in the end, not only would you get your hands on me, you'd also make use of the little time I have left as a cultivator to squeeze out the maximum benefits off my existence. It is a beautifully crafted plan, is it not? Hahahaha! I was impressed, I was!"
For a long time, silence echoed in the cabin. In the end, it was broken by a long sigh from Fang Xie.
"I suppose that's a reasonable view to have. Actually, I did plot that scheme. But your sect master thought of the possibility the very day I entered your sect to look for you. He was quite adamant about his stance. The only way I could get to make you enter this little contract of ours was to promise him that I would not pursue the issue I have with your very existence due to my spiritual perceptions. I even swore an oath on my dao heart that morning, just before you came running to your sect master's mountain."
Fang Xie sounded so depressed when he spoke that Han Xuhan was convinced of his honesty at that moment. Of course, if he could foresee the possibility, so could Xuan Zi, the wily old sect master. And it would not be out of character for that man to go to such lengths to protect Xuhan either. Despite his strange character, Han Xuhan had never sensed a drop of insincerity in that man's conduct around him, or any disciple for that matter.
"You don't believe me?" Fang Xie asked.
"I do, I do. But the dice have been cast. We're already here. There's no way to turn back time and change the chain of events that led to our current positions. You're standing over there, holding Leng Qing hostage. I'm over here, explaining that I'm not planning to cooperate with your ambitious plans. Both of us are inside a trapping formation, but only one of us is trapped. Can you guess who that is?"
Fang Xie started to chuckle, much to Xuhan's surprise.
"So, this entire time, your target was never Leng Qing. You used him as a bait to get to me, the real target! You know, I thought you had some kind of sophisticated plan up your sleeves, boy. But if this Visual Perception Blocking formation is all you're trying to rely on to deal with me-"
Without finishing his sentence, Fang Xie sprang forward at a speed far beyond Han Xuhan's ability to react to.
Han Xuhan felt a numbing sensation throb through his chest. He slowly looked down and noticed a hand sticking below his right shoulder!
The numbing sensation slowly began to burn, turning into a searing source of pain. All five of Fang Xie's fingers had sunk into his flesh, scraping the thick bones and joints around his clavicle. Perhaps one soft tug was all it would take to separate his right arm from his torso!
With immense willpower, he stifled the scream trying to crush his windpipe. Instead, Han Xuhan looked up at the colorful face of the man who was literally holding his life in his palm.
Han Xuhan pulled a weak fist up and punched Fang Xie. The punch did about enough damage as the air around them. Fang Xie didn't even blink as his fingers slightly contracted inside Han Xuhan's shoulder, sending heavier waves of pain.
Blood spluttered out of his ripped flesh, splashing the floor and mixing into the bloody pool that had formed out of the bodies of the other thirteen victims of Fang Xie.
One of his feet inched back lazily and formed an arch. Fang Xie sensed his second vain attempt at hurting someone so far beyond his realm and couldn't help but smile mockingly.
Mentally, he gave a simple command that did not require an iota of qi.
Overdrive Kick!
The speed at which his foot sprang forward wasn't anything to boast of. Even Han Xuhan could track its trajectory with his eyes, which meant it was probably not much faster than a snail in Fang Xie's perception.
But just because it was slow by the standard of a powerful cultivator did not mean it lacked power, or the momentum to carry out destructive force.
Despite being only able to see the outlines of Fang Xie's facial features, Han Xuhan could acutely sense the man's disbelief as soon as his foot made contact with his skin.
It was a bit too late to dodge, at this point. Fang Xie could only endure the stinging sensation that traveled through his left ankle where Han Xuhan's foot had crashed into.
A puny fourth-layer cultivator had injured him!
Both combatants slowly looked down, both of them equally astonished that the attack had been effective. Fang Xie couldn't glean much with his current botched vision, but Han Xuhan could appreciate his own handiwork just fine.
One of the armor parts he had purchased from his fellow disciples- the shoe, had helped him launch a kick with the power of someone at the peak of the Physique Transformation Realm.
But a mere kick wasn't enough to make someone bleed so profusely. So Han Xuhan had attached an outer layer of tiny, steel spikes above the shoe before leaving his hut. The resulting kick had damaged both of their feet. But his prime purpose of this confrontation, which was to make Fang Xie bleed, had been achieved. And that was all that mattered.
The moment their combined blood came into contact with the pool of mixed blood on the floor, both Han Xuhan and Fang Xie felt a blunt, spiritual shock gallop through their senses.
The Soul-Confusing formation around the cabin was the first step of his plan.
Now, the second step, the Blood-Contract formation has been established!
As he confirmed his own identity, Han Xuhan threw away the magical scroll he had been carrying until now. This scroll was supposed to function as a hit list for him, but Xuhan would not be surprised if the scroll had other functions that he didn't know of. The fact that Fang Xie had handed it to him was enough of a red flag in itself.
"Come in," Fang Xie said in a voice barely suppressing fury. "Come in and explain yourself, boy, and you better hope it's an explanation I like. If you thought you could get away after interfering with my work by relying on Xuan Zi, you're in for some disappointment!"
While he kept spewing his rage through such threats, Han Xuhan gingerly made his way into the room while carrying a small metal in front of his chest, which he had found inside the cabin. Judging by the vague imprints of fists on it, Han Xuhan guessed that Leng Qing tested out the results of his body cultivation on it.
To leave fist shapes on inch-thick plates...Han Xuhan knew he was no match for such strength. It was a good thing that he had put the boy out of the equation before making his move.
"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" Fang Xie's sudden roar startled him.
"Yes! Yes, of course!" He immediately answered while positioning himself close to the only window of the bedroom. Right now, the distance between him and Fang Xie was about twelve feet. His slowly growing ability to see through the Consciousness Matrix was just enough here to give him a clear vision of his opponent from this distance.
"I have yet to hear the explanation on which your life depends, boy!" Fang Xie growled. Han Xuhan observed the man's Celestial Body In the Consciousness Matrix with much curiosity.
Just as he had suspected, Fang Xie's body was a mass of swirling, tangled colors. In the black-and-grey world of Ghostsight, his silhouette was incredibly prominent and detailed. Han Xuhan looked at his own body which could be considered almost similar to Fang Xie's in the Consciousness Matrix and a trace of relief washed over him.
"The explanation you've been waiting to hear goes somewhat along these lines," he began to speak in a low voice.
"I, Han Xuhan, am destined to be a cripple. In the brutal world of cultivation, that is essentially a seed of a painful future. Nobody in my shoes would be willing to submit to such a fate."
"...What the fuck does that have to do with anything?" Fang Xie asked after a second of dumbfounded silence.
"Then you made your appearance in my story, Inspector Xie. You threatened to mutilate me to death if I did not submit to your orders and assassinated some youngsters from foreign sects."
"So your kind, lawful heart gave you the idea to rebel and ambush me here?" Fang Xie said in disbelief. "Quit the drama, boy. We both know you don't give a fuck about anybody other than yourself and your own interests!"
Han Xuhan shrugged. "Indeed, I do not. But I do mind it when I'm being coerced into doing something that I would not normally do. If you had just asked me to beat these kids like Leng Qing and Qing Ya up, I would have done it without even thinking about it. It is natural to submit to those who hold the highest power in the hierarchy, in this case which is you. I would not find it to be a distasteful task that I'm being forced to do. I'd treat it as a challenge. However, two factors made me deviate from that line of thinking. Firstly, this is literally assassination, what you're making me do. I have nothing against these kids. Why would I be willing to make them your puppets for reasons you've never even bothered to explain? It could very well spell their deaths, now in mind, later in flesh!"
Fang Xie chewed on his own tongue for a while as Xuhan stopped to breathe. It seemed like he wanted to explain something, but he decided against it in the end and chose to ask, "And your second reason is?"
Han Xuhan laughed derisively.
"That's an even more convincing one, in all honesty. I merely cast my sight into the distant future where I shall have long become a crippled mortal. How difficult would it be to make Xuan Zi lift the protective shield he has been holding over me as a Sect Master? Since you have enough power to coerce me to do terrible tasks right in front of him, I assume you also have enough power to coerce HIM into overlooking the safety of a long-forgotten outcast of his sect, no longer an official disciple. So in the end, not only would you get your hands on me, you'd also make use of the little time I have left as a cultivator to squeeze out the maximum benefits off my existence. It is a beautifully crafted plan, is it not? Hahahaha! I was impressed, I was!"
For a long time, silence echoed in the cabin. In the end, it was broken by a long sigh from Fang Xie.
"I suppose that's a reasonable view to have. Actually, I did plot that scheme. But your sect master thought of the possibility the very day I entered your sect to look for you. He was quite adamant about his stance. The only way I could get to make you enter this little contract of ours was to promise him that I would not pursue the issue I have with your very existence due to my spiritual perceptions. I even swore an oath on my dao heart that morning, just before you came running to your sect master's mountain."
Fang Xie sounded so depressed when he spoke that Han Xuhan was convinced of his honesty at that moment. Of course, if he could foresee the possibility, so could Xuan Zi, the wily old sect master. And it would not be out of character for that man to go to such lengths to protect Xuhan either. Despite his strange character, Han Xuhan had never sensed a drop of insincerity in that man's conduct around him, or any disciple for that matter.
"You don't believe me?" Fang Xie asked.
"I do, I do. But the dice have been cast. We're already here. There's no way to turn back time and change the chain of events that led to our current positions. You're standing over there, holding Leng Qing hostage. I'm over here, explaining that I'm not planning to cooperate with your ambitious plans. Both of us are inside a trapping formation, but only one of us is trapped. Can you guess who that is?"
Fang Xie started to chuckle, much to Xuhan's surprise.
"So, this entire time, your target was never Leng Qing. You used him as a bait to get to me, the real target! You know, I thought you had some kind of sophisticated plan up your sleeves, boy. But if this Visual Perception Blocking formation is all you're trying to rely on to deal with me-"
Without finishing his sentence, Fang Xie sprang forward at a speed far beyond Han Xuhan's ability to react to.
Han Xuhan felt a numbing sensation throb through his chest. He slowly looked down and noticed a hand sticking below his right shoulder!
The numbing sensation slowly began to burn, turning into a searing source of pain. All five of Fang Xie's fingers had sunk into his flesh, scraping the thick bones and joints around his clavicle. Perhaps one soft tug was all it would take to separate his right arm from his torso!
With immense willpower, he stifled the scream trying to crush his windpipe. Instead, Han Xuhan looked up at the colorful face of the man who was literally holding his life in his palm.
Han Xuhan pulled a weak fist up and punched Fang Xie. The punch did about enough damage as the air around them. Fang Xie didn't even blink as his fingers slightly contracted inside Han Xuhan's shoulder, sending heavier waves of pain.
Blood spluttered out of his ripped flesh, splashing the floor and mixing into the bloody pool that had formed out of the bodies of the other thirteen victims of Fang Xie.
One of his feet inched back lazily and formed an arch. Fang Xie sensed his second vain attempt at hurting someone so far beyond his realm and couldn't help but smile mockingly.
Mentally, he gave a simple command that did not require an iota of qi.
Overdrive Kick!
The speed at which his foot sprang forward wasn't anything to boast of. Even Han Xuhan could track its trajectory with his eyes, which meant it was probably not much faster than a snail in Fang Xie's perception.
But just because it was slow by the standard of a powerful cultivator did not mean it lacked power, or the momentum to carry out destructive force.
Despite being only able to see the outlines of Fang Xie's facial features, Han Xuhan could acutely sense the man's disbelief as soon as his foot made contact with his skin.
It was a bit too late to dodge, at this point. Fang Xie could only endure the stinging sensation that traveled through his left ankle where Han Xuhan's foot had crashed into.
A puny fourth-layer cultivator had injured him!
Both combatants slowly looked down, both of them equally astonished that the attack had been effective. Fang Xie couldn't glean much with his current botched vision, but Han Xuhan could appreciate his own handiwork just fine.
One of the armor parts he had purchased from his fellow disciples- the shoe, had helped him launch a kick with the power of someone at the peak of the Physique Transformation Realm.
But a mere kick wasn't enough to make someone bleed so profusely. So Han Xuhan had attached an outer layer of tiny, steel spikes above the shoe before leaving his hut. The resulting kick had damaged both of their feet. But his prime purpose of this confrontation, which was to make Fang Xie bleed, had been achieved. And that was all that mattered.
The moment their combined blood came into contact with the pool of mixed blood on the floor, both Han Xuhan and Fang Xie felt a blunt, spiritual shock gallop through their senses.
The Soul-Confusing formation around the cabin was the first step of his plan.
Now, the second step, the Blood-Contract formation has been established!
